GUEST BLOGGER! Cheryl's Farm Fresh Wisdom~Ya Did What with a Goat??!!

We welcome back my overall-clad friend, Cheryl, who's full of farm fresh wisdom with a Godly flair. You won't BELIEVE what's she's up to this time!!! Put down yer book and pull up a bale of straw, greenhorns. You're about to be schooled on the fine art of animal revival, and we ain't at church! If I'm lying, I'm a dying! Take a gander at Cheryl's jawing.

    

Cheryl:   After receiving 8” of snow on Mar. 3rd, I was relieved that my son, Matthew, had no school. Finally finished all of the regular daily chores which took three times longer considering the massive accumulation of snow. Being quite tired, cold and wet, I was happy to get in the house even if it was 7:45 p.m.  Just as I had peeled the last bit of wet clothing off, my phone rings.

   “Mom, hurry! Come out here and help me! There’s a new baby goat and it looks real bad!”

   I quickly re-dress and out I go. Upon inspection, the newborn has it’s foot wedged and stuck in a deer stand, its mouth full of dirt and mud. It’s gurgling and freezing.

      My long day just got longer. 

     The mother just stood there in the distance, looking confused. Matthew and I grab the fragile 2 pound mass of screaming kid and sweep it away to our warm home. Once inside, we immediately try to clear the airway since the baby is struggling to breathe. Holding a newborn upside down with a slight swing usually clears the airway. Not this time! This baby stops breathing completely. I clean out more mud from its mouth, frantically patting it like burping a baby with no results.

   Yikes. I now hold a limp baby.

   I clean the mouth, cover nose and mouth with my mouth-breathe. Its chest expands in my hands and it exhales, gasps, and coughs. Then it quits breathing again. Upside down swing-nothing-pat,pat-nothing. Again I cover its mouth with mine-blow. I feel the baby’s chest expand.

   “Jesus, Help me!” I pray as I tap, tap, tap its little ribcage

   Then its pale little nose flares and its gray lips turn pink. Oh, yes! This baby really want to live. The newborn begins breathing but still gurgles. No more upside down swinging. Now to address its cold body. Thank God for a large utility sink and warm water. In she goes.  Now the kid’s nose is turning reddish. I start thinking this baby may make it.

   “Okay, Matthew. I will hold it and you blow it dry.” 

   Praise God for my son, Matthew! We wrap her in a warm towel out of the dryer and stash the baby in an orange box in the kitchen. Then we mix up some colostrum replacer and try to feed this little one. Oh great, it will not suckle. Drip by drip down its throat via a syringe. Only a half ounce. Two hours later, one ounce. Another two hours later, one and a half ounces. Still not sucking, but a least it is learning to cough. Now it spits up so much dirt, there’s no wonder it couldn't breathe. 

   So as I sat up in my chair holding this weak, abandoned baby on my chest throughout the night, it occurs to me that this is exactly what Jesus did for me when He took my place on the cross all these years ago! Jesus took my cold, dead, dirty life and breathed fresh clean air into it. He picked me up from the pit of sin that I could not escape on my own! He cleaned me and nurtured me. He held me close and taught me how to live a new life, unrestricted without shackles. 

   Oh, thank you, Jesus for taking away my guilt, shame, and filth and filling me with Your Word which is food for my soul. We have since named the goat, Ruth, from the Bible. Ruth followed Naomi everywhere and this goat follows me step for step. Just as we are to follow Jesus. Ruth has since learned to suck and loves a bath. She has moved to the laundry room and accepted a stuffed bear as a snuggle mate. 

   Thank you, Jesus, for a new life and spring!


Peggy: The last paragraph reveals reason we write here at the Mine!!! Thank ya much, Cheryl!!! And God's Blessings and Salvation to all.

Don't forget to check out the Miner's bookshelf!  Renee Blare's Beast of Stratton, Nancy Shew Bolton's The Right Ingredients, and, yours truly, my book, Year of Jubilee! And as always, thanks for stopping by!

P.S.:  Today all Prism Books are 25% off at All Romance ebooks!  That's a whole buck!!! Follow these links!

Beast of Stratton: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beastofstratton-1761217-149.html

The Right Ingredients:  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-therightingredients-1634862-149.html

Year of Jubilee: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-yearofjubilee-1778358-158.html